DeWine rejects second petition for Ohio medical cannabis

COLUMBUS — Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine on Friday rejected the resubmitted petition for a proposed amendment to the Ohio Constitution which would attempt to legalize marijuana for medical use in the state.

On Sept. 24, the Ohio Attorney General’s Office received a written petition to amend the Ohio Constitution, entitled “Ohio Medical Cannabis Amendment,” from the group Ohio Medical Cannabis Care LLC, the second submission of such a titled amendment by this group. 1,000 valid signatures from registered Ohio voters were submitted. However, DeWine found at least six defects with the summary language:

The summary language states:

“Caregivers” will be limited to one per 1,000 residents, while the proposed amendment states one per 5,000 residents.

Members of the proposed Ohio Marijuana Control Commission will be appointed by the governor, while at least one sentence in the proposed amendment states they will be elected by Ohio voters.

Patients under 21 years old using medical marijuana must be under the supervision of a parent or guardian, while the proposed amendment also allows supervison by state, city, or county institutions.

Commercial Cilivation Center Fee shall be $50,000; while the proposed amendment sets the fee at $25,000.

There will be a fund to defray costs for qualifying patients, while the proposed amendment has no such provision.

There will be legal protections for patients under 21 years old from possession charges of up to 240 grams of usable medical cannabis, while the proposed amendment states the protection for patients 18 years or older is up to 200 grams.

“For these reasons, I am unable to certify the summary as a fair and truthful statement of the proposed amendment,” DeWine stated in a letter to the petitioners. DeWine rejected the first submission July 29 on similar grounds.